ARLINGTON, Texas – Ryan Helsley, the St. Louis Cardinals’ flamethrowing closer and lone All-Star Game representative this season, will not pitch in the game Tuesday evening.
Major League Baseball officially replaced Helsley on the roster with Washington Nationals closer Kyle Finnegan on Monday.
According to Baseball Reference, this will mark the first time since 2007 that the Cardinals will not have an elected All-Star participate in the Midsummer Classic, a year when only Albert Pujols was named to the National League squad for St. Louis, but did not see game action.
MLB requires every team to have at least one All-Star selection, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the All-Stars are required to play in the game.
Helsley told the Derrick Goold, lead Cardinals beat writer of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, that he elected to not pitch in the All-Star Game in an effort to stay healthy and rest for the second half of the 2024 season.
“As active as I’ve been for me it’s going to be trying to be healthy, take the four days,” Helsley told the Post-Dispatch. “I’ve been really busy the first half. I want to pitch but I think the smart thing is to take a few days.”
Helsley has been quite busy this season, leading MLB and setting a Cardinals record with 32 saves prior to the All-Star break. From one stretch to start the season from mid-May, he had pitched in every Cardinals victory, save situation or not, due to how narrowly St. Louis won many of those games.
Helsley is also on pace for around 71 relief innings this season, which would mark a new personal high at the big-league level.
While he won’t pitch on Tuesday’s big stage, Helsley, 29, is still enjoying All-Star festivities in Texas this week. He will be recognized during pre-game player introductions on Tuesday and watch the contest from the NL dugout or bullpen. Fortunately for him, he had an opportunity to pitch in the All-Star Game in Los Angeles just two years ago.
The MLB All-Star Game begins around 7 p.m. on Tuesday. The MLB on FOX on Pregame shows begins around 6 p.m. FOX 2 will carry the broadcasts for the pregame show and the All-Star Game.
